Yankees fire hitting coach Dillon Lawson, narrow search to 2 people: Source

The Yankees have fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson, the team announced Sunday. Here’s what you need to know:

The Yankees have narrowed their search for Lawson’s replacement to two people, and a decision on the move could come as early as Monday, a person with knowledge of the Yankees’ personnel decisions told The Athletic. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because that person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

New York’s next hitting coach will come from outside of the organization, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters Sunday.

This is the first time in Cashman’s tenure that the Yankees have fired a coach during the season. Cashman has been the GM since 1998.

Lawson, 38, was hired to replace hitting coach Marcus Thames before the 2021 season.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Why did the Yankees make this move?

Ultimately, Lawson ran out of time to prove he could turn around a sputtering Yankees offense filled with underperforming stars. After Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Cubs to finish the first half of the season, the Yankees were just 18th in the league in runs scored with 400. It was the worst total in the American League East. The Yankees also rank 21st in the majors in OPS at .710.

Before Lawson’s hiring as hitting coach, he was the Yankees’ minor-league hitting coordinator and the team lauded him for the breakouts of several of their prospects. But the failure of several of their big bats to figure it out of the plate likely lead to the firing of Lawson. Going into the All-Star break, DJ LeMahieu had a .642 OPS.